Hockey Canada Reveals 2014 Olympic Men's Team Roster

Dante A. Ciampaglia |
January 7th 2014, 12:58 pm

A week after USA Hockey revealed its men's Olympic hockey roster, Hockey Canada announced the team it will be sending to Sochi. At an event in Toronto, Executive Director (and Tampa Bay Lightning GM) Steve Yzerman and head coach Mike Babcock (who's also behind the bench for the Detroit Red Wings) joined a panel of Hockey Canada executives, VIPs, politicians, and fans to introduce the 2013 Olympic squad.

In general, no great surprises here: Sidney Crosby, the hero of the 2010 tournament, is back, along with goalie Roberto Luongo and eight other members of that gold-medal winning team. Among the newcomers are Islanders captain John Tavares and Lightning superstar Steven Stamkos — which is a little surprising considering he hasn't returned from a broken leg he suffered in mid-November. His Bolts teammate, Martin St. Louis, was left off the roster, while Crosby's Penguins linemate Chris Kunitz (who is having a monster season playing on a line with the Kid) is on the team.

We'll have to wait until Team Canada takes the ice for its first game on February 13 — a preliminary match against Norway — to see how this team gels. There's a ton of talent and leadership on the roster, and the key for the coaching staff now is to get them to work well together to bring home back-to-back golds.

"It’s a special group, and obviously if you’re able to be a part of it it’s one heck of an opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we hope to take advantage of it," Tavares told SI Kids after a Hockey Canada camp last summer.

Check out the full 2014 Canada Men's Hockey roster below. The players with a star next to their name played in the 2010 Games.